


Disturbance

by Cosmic_Biscuit



Series: To Fall and Rise [4]
Category: Guild Wars 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Dark, F/M, Mind Games, Non-Consensual Touching
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-16
Updated: 2019-01-16
Packaged: 2019-10-11 00:13:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17436182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cosmic_Biscuit/pseuds/Cosmic_Biscuit
Summary: Palawa Joko takes advantage of the chaos Kralkatorrik is raising in the Mists to send a message to the Commander. Or does he? Ghostly visit or nightmare, the Commander doesn't sleep well either way.





	Disturbance

Crystalline cracking sounds echoed under each footstep as she wandered through the chambers. How had she gotten so far from Aurene? Surely she had been sitting beside her companion only moments ago…

 

What was that noise?

 

She jerked in surprise as she suddenly found she could walk no farther, her feet stuck to the ground. _What in-_

Tar, thick and steaming, bubbled from the floor beneath her, and her alarm mounted as, despite her attempts to slog free, it slithered up her calves and over her knees, pinning her in place several inches off the floor. Hissing under her breath, she attempted to summon her axe, but nothing came. Fine, then. She gritted her teeth and raised her arm, ready to smash herself free from the hardening goo with her own hands if need be-

-and another tendril of tar halted her movement, leaving her completely trapped.

The low chuckle that followed set every nerve on high alert. “ _You_ ,” she growled, trying to twist enough to find out where it was coming from.

She got her answer when long, cold fingers closed around her throat from behind. “Me,” the lich king breathed. “Unfortunately still quite dead, thanks to that damnable beast of yours.” Another hand closed over her hip and she attempted to jerk away, to no avail. “You, slowly falling apart at the seams, the scent of the Mists lingering behind you. And yet here we both are.”

She bared sharp teeth, straining against her prison. “I’ll send you back to whatever hell you crawled out from, you-”

A sharp squeeze cut off her threat and left her coughing, then the hand at her throat drifted upwards to cup her chin, forcing her head back. “Ah, now _there’s_ the spark I was looking for,” Joko purred, breath hot against her neck. “After all, where’s the _fun_ in staking a claim to my most favored enemy if she doesn’t fight?”

The caress of a thumb over her lower lip was intimate enough to make her shudder in disgust, making an aborted attempt to bite him as she pulled even harder against the tar. The cracking sound that followed was gratifying, and she whipped around as fast as only having her upper body free would allow, fully intent on driving her fist into his face.

At the moment she would have made contact, however, he vanished with a mocking laugh.

_“Coward!”_

She saw the wisp of power, but the tar made her too slow to react before a ghostly hand gripped her throat again as he reappeared in front of her. Nearly snarling, she clawed at his arm in an effort to force him to let go, but that only earned a sinister smile.

“Oh, my pet, I will take _great_ pleasure in plucking your petals. _Savoring_ every moment of your agony as I tear your soul apart thread by thread. And when I have finished with you and you lie broken in front of me, I will put you back together and we will play our game _again_.”

“I will _burn_ you!” she snapped back.

The smile only widened. “I might actually enjoy that. It will make forcing you to my will all the sweeter.” He leaned in close, _far_ too close, and she could practically feel his lips moving against her own as he spoke. “Enjoy your freedom for as long as you may have it, my dear Commander. For once you die, _you will be mine._ ”

\---

She jerked sharply, the gasp for air taking up nearly all of her body as she clutched at the blankets that cocooned her.

Wait, blankets?

Blinking in confusion, she looked around and found herself in a tent. Why…? When had…?

“Cloe?”

Hands gripped her shoulders, but they were warm and familiar, and her twin leaned into view. She stared back up at Sinnigia, still trying to put her thoughts back together. “Sinni? Where am I?”

“Back in the barracks camp.” Her sister helped her sit up and free her arms, and it was all she could do not to throw herself at Sinnigia and cling like a leech. “Braham insisted on carrying you here after you… well, sank into yourself.”

“How long has it been?”

“Since that, or since…?”

“Everything,” she said weakly.

Her head was pounding. It felt _cold_ in the tent, despite all the blankets she’d been wrapped in, and she couldn’t shake the uncomfortable sensation of a grip on her neck and that hated voice in her ears.

“A little over a week and a half,” Sinnigia replied, saving her the need to make the effort by folding her into a gentle hug. “Are you… are you alright?”

“Nightmares,” she murmured into her twin’s shoulder. “It’s just… it’s just a lot of nightmares.”

And yet…

And _yet_ , even as Sinnigia cuddled her close and helped her settle back down to sleep in their nest of blankets, she couldn’t get rid of the chill that seemed to cling to every inch of her.


End file.
